Cho Tou-sai 超陶齊

Cho Tou-sai (Zhao Taozhai) was a Chinese Japanese calligrapher whose father, Cho Sho-you, was a Qing merchant from Nanjing doing business in the port city of Nagasaki. His mother was a courtesan in that city's Maruyama pleasure quarters. He was sent to the Zen Obaku monastery there at 11 and later moved to Kyoto. He is considered a pre-eminent practitioner of Chinese style calligraphy during the mid Edo period. He excelled in seal carving and was influenced by the styles of Wen Zhengming and Zhao Mengfu, and influence of Mi Fu.